US media tips Obama

Many US pundits and editorial writers agree that after Tuesday's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, it is almost impossible for Hillary Clinton to overtake rival Senator Barack Obama.

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Adam Nagourney, The New York Times

In this case, a split was not a draw. Despite narrowly winning Indiana, while losing North Carolina, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton did not fundamentally improve her chances of securing the Democratic presidential nomination. If anything, Mrs Clinton's hopes for overtaking Senator Barack Obama dwindled further on Tuesday night.

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Dana Milbank, The Washington Post

The Democrats are putting the "stale" in stalemate. Barack Obama needed to "close the deal" by beating Hillary Clinton in Indiana and North Carolina. Clinton needed a "game-changer" so that she could have a viable path to the presidential nomination. But no deal closed and no game changed Tuesday night.

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Ben Smith, Politico.com

Sen. Barack Obama took a large and potentially decisive step toward the Democratic nomination Tuesday night.

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Dylan Loewe, Huffington Post.com

Obama's North Carolina victory was decisive, his victory speech transcendent, and his loss in Indiana so close, it hardly feels like a loss.

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Peter Wallsten, Los Angeles Times

Clinton is preparing to push the contest beyond the voting phase of the process and into the realm of committee meetings and credentialing rules, where her campaign believes she may have a chance to overtake Obama before the party's nominating convention in late August.

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Michael Scherer, Time magazine

Clinton ended the night no closer to winning the nomination than when she began the day - in fact, she emerged an even bigger mathematical long-shot to taking the lead either in pledged delegates or the popular vote.

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Wall Street Journal editorial

With his victory in North Carolina on Tuesday, Barack Obama took a giant step toward the Democratic presidential nomination. The irony is that he is doing this just when Hillary Clinton has finally exposed his potential weaknesses as a general election candidate.

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Mark Ambinder, The Atlantic

Barack Obama is, by almost every measure and by almost every unmeasurable impression, on the precipice of being able to declare victory and have his declaration be accepted by the media and his party. Hillary Clinton needed to find a way to give superdelegates their "Holy Moly" moment, and she failed. Absent an extraordinary intervening event, the question for Hillary Clinton now is how she ends the race.

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Tim Russett, MSNBC

We now know who the Democratic nominee is going to be - and no one's going to dispute it... Sometimes in campaigns, the candidate is the last to recognize the best timing. It's very much like being on life support: Once they start removing the systems, you really have no choice.

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The Charlotte Observer (North Carolina)

Heavy support from Charlotte and the Triangle swept Sen. Barack Obama to a lopsided victory in North Carolina's Democratic primary Tuesday.

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The Indystar (Indiana)

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton squeaked out a critical razor-thin victory in Indiana's presidential primary Tuesday but lost North Carolina's primary, a split decision that left her no closer to overcoming Senator Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic nomination.